GCA and the Public Affairs Committee

POSTAL AFFAIRS 

GCA Public Affairs Committee represents the interests of association members, business partners and customers before Congress and federal agencies.  Historically, the GCA has advocated for the interests of the Citizen Mailer who have no other advocate in regulatory proceedings and on Capitol Hill.  More than half of all cards sold can only delivered by the USPS, making sound postal policy an existential issue for greeting card publishers and industry suppliers.   
 
The committee engages on all fronts to fulfill its strategic goals to: 
  • Preserve effective, independent regulation of the USPS. 
  • Maintain current real price for Single Piece, First Class Mail, and oppose rate structure biases against Single Piece First Class Mail. 
  • Preserve 6-day delivery (including access) and identify and promote cost-saving initiatives that maintain service quality and rate stability. 
  • Promote greeting cards to the USPS and key stakeholders. 
  • Advocate that the USPS is an essential service to Congress and the media. 
 

USPS PARNTERSHIP PROGRAMS

The GCA has developed and maintained a close working relationship with USPS management. This dialogue has led to significant products and programs benefiting member publishers and suppliers.  Examples include: 
 
  • Development of the Forever Stamp 
  • Development of the Butterfly Stamp for square cards 
  • Collaborative marketing that brought 160 million additional cards into the mail from FY2015-FY2018.  
  • USPS Thinking of You Week Cooperation with supporting messaging on billons of envelope cancellations 
  • 2024-25 Perfect Pairing project 
 

GCA ADVOCACY ON MORE ISSUES IMPORTANT TO YOU 

More recently, the committee has expanded its scope to advocate for GCA member interests in trade policy/tariffs, combatting sales of counterfeit cards, and at the state level, combatting overly broad Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation that seeks to make card publisher liable for recycling costs of our products.  
 
The current GCA Public Affairs Committee includes: 
  • Jory Haslett- Leanin’ Tree, Chair 
  • Erin Brower, Hallmark Cards, Inc. 
  • Marina Kishkovich- Ampersand M Studio 
  • Carlos Llanso (ex-officio), Legacy Publishing Group 
  • Dana Lynch, Blue Kite Press 
  • Mary McClain, American Greetings 
  • Andy Meehan, Designer Greetings Consultant and GCA President 
  • Erick Norman, Corefact Corporation 
  • Sarah Schwartz, Stationery Trends/The Paper Nerd 
  • Tom Shoaf- (past Chair) Biely & Shoaf Co.
  • Dana Lynch, Blue Kite Press, Public Affairs Marketing/Member Engagement Subcommittee Chair
  • George White, Up With Paper (ex-officio) 

 

OUR IMPACT

The GCA has a long track record of success and has become a leader in postal advocacy and successfully impacted other issue areas.  Recent achievements include: 
  • Successfully blocking the USPS from unilaterally ending Saturday mail service in 2013. 
  • Mobilizing advocates to secure passage proof majorities for resolutions protecting Saturday mail service in four successive Congresses from 2014-2022. 
  • Securing language in the 2022 Postal Service Reform Act to make Saturday mail delivery a permanent requirement. 
  • Conceiving, drafting and securing industry support for the USPS SERVES US Act (H.R. 9839) to fundamentally transform and update the regulatory process to hold the USPS accountable for efficiency, service quality and rate affordability.  
  • Delivering testimony supporting the successful exclusion of greeting cards from Section 301 tariffs on products imported from China.  
 
The GCA is a member of the executive committee for the Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service and Keep US Posted.  We have helped direct and lead their broad scale advocacy efforts and secured broad industry support for our postal priorities. 

 

GCA Public Affairs Committee

We engage with a variety of advocacy working groups, and have built a powerful coalition, all of whom are staunch supporters of maintaining the USPS as an independent entity, while also working to maintain six day mail delivery and identify cost-saving initiatives that help to maintain service quality and rate stability. We also support the current real price for single piece, First Class Mail.

Interested in serving as a member of this committee? Contact Rafe Morrissey, VP of Postal Affairs.